Jungles, Dinosaurs, and Romance
by veinton
Summary: Both lost, Zoro and Tashigi run into each other in the middle of a jungle. ZoroxTashigi


* * *

Chapter One

* * *

"Ok, now Zoro, remember!" Usopp said, looking at his green haired crew mate with a serious expression. "We're all going to be at the Chief's hut!"

Usopp pointed to a large, red hut which stood a short distance away.

"It's the biggest hut in this village, it's painted bright red, and it's only four huts down from this one." he said, speaking in a tone one might use when talking to an infant. "Just four huts down! Even you should have no problem getting to it. But just in case you still manage to get lost, there's a few steps Nami and I came up with that should help you to reorient yourself..."

Multiple large veins were standing out visibly on Zoro's forehead as the swordsman clenched his teeth and glared at Usopp, utterly sick of this indignifying treatment he had been receiving so often lately. Some times it would be Usopp, other times Nami, occasionally Sanji or Franky, but ever since they had reached the second half of the Grand Line, whenever the crew arrived at a new island some one would always stop him before he went off on his own to give him overly simplified instructions on how to meet back up with the rest of the crew. This routine began in response to an incident that occured on Fishman Island, where the crew had had to delay their departure for a day to search for Zoro after he had misinterpreted "south" to mean "down" and had gotten lost in the sewage tunnels underneath the city.

As Usopp finished with his instructions, he held something out for Zoro to take. "...and as a final precautionary measure, we got you this flare gun so you can-"

"I get it already!" Zoro snapped. "It's four huts down from this one!! How the hell could I get lost!?"

The swordsman turned on his heel and stomped into the hut they had been standing next to, huffing.

Usopp stared after him for a moment.

"...Well, I guess it'll be all right this time."

The sniper sighed, then walked back to where the others were gathered.

* * *

It had been one day since the Straw Hat crew had set out from the most recent island on their course, Wano. Their Log Pose now pointed to Elbaf, the island of giants. The whole crew, especially Luffy and Usopp, were excitedly looking forward to it, but an unexpected attack by an enemy pirate ship shortly after they had departed had put the ship's crew in a dilemma. Although they had won the battle with relative ease, Zoro's cursed sword, the Sandai Kitetsu, had broken. As a result, Zoro now insisted that they stop at a nearby island to get him a new sword before they continued on their way to Elbaf.

The entire crew was gathered around Zoro at the front of the ship.

"Do you really need a new sword RIGHT NOW?" Nami asked Zoro as she looked at the Log Pose on her wrist, an annoyed look on her face. "If we stop at this island, the Log Pose might reset and we won't be able to go to Elbaf!"

Zoro looked away from Nami at the large, jungle covered island they were passing by. Some ways up its coast was a small village.

"This ocean is a lot more dangerous than the first half of the Grand Line." he said, resting a hand on the hilt of his sheathed, broken sword. "And we can be attacked at any time. This recent experience proved that. I need to be at my strongest if I'm going to be fighting here."

"But we don't even know if that village sells swords!" Usopp exclaimed. "It doesn't look very modern! And what if the Log Pose resets as soon as we come close to it? We'd miss going to Elbaf for such a stupid reason...!"

"Yeah, Zoro!" shouted Chopper worriedly. "I want to see it!! Elbaf!"

Brook coughed into his bony hand. "Ehem...The sword..." he said, "...is a swordsman's life. If a swordsman is missing a sword, he isn't whole. So I believe we should let Zoro-san find a replacement for his broken blade..."

"...It's all right as long as the Log doesn't reset, right?" asked Robin. "Luffy, why don't you go onto the island ahead of us? You can ask the natives in that village if they know how long it takes for the Log to set there."

"Hmm...Okay!" Luffy agreed, nodding.

Twenty minutes later, the village was in plain view ahead of them. They could see some people wearing primitive clothing standing on the beach and pointing at the ship as it approached. The village consisted of a few rows of huts in a clearing. It was completely surrounded by jungle. Luffy ran off to the back of the ship, then stretched his arms to the top of the mast and rocketed himself over the water and onto the island's beach. The natives on the beach all jumped back in surprise.

The crew watched as Luffy had a short, inaudible conversation with the natives and was then led off into their village. A few minutes later, he returned to the beach holding multiple pieces of meat in his hands which he was happily gnawing on. A large, muscular man was with him. On the head of the muscular man sat a monkey eating a banana.

"Hey gwuys!!" Luffy shouted without bothering to swallow his food. "Come ovwer here! They hwave great fwood!!"

"How long does it take for the Log Pose to set on this island!?" Nami called back.

The large man standing next to Luffy yelled, "It takes two hours, if I remember right! Come on land! We haven't had visitors in years!"

"Two hours..." muttered Franky putting his hand on his chin. "...That should be enough time for Zoro to find a sword, if they have one."

Nami nodded. "Okay, we'll anchor here for now. But we can't stay for long."

When they had anchored the ship and were all on land, the large man with the monkey on his head approached them.

"Greetings!" he said cheerfully. "I am Treepot, the Chief of this village! Welcome to the island of Monster's Teeth! We haven't had visitors here in many years! Though I understand your stay will be short, please join me for lunch!"

Zoro stepped forward. "I'm looking for a new sword. You wouldn't happen to have any sword shops here, would you?"

"Sword shops?" the large man inquired. "Hmm...Well, we don't use swords here and we don't do much trade with other islands...But we do have a hut where we keep items we've collected from shipwrecks...You're welcome to look through it!"

The large man led the Straw Hats to the hut he spoke of. As they walked through the village, they saw dozens of monkeys running around and climbing on huts.

"You sure have a good relationship with the animals here." said Sanji, noticing a small boy and monkey tossing a coconut back and forth between each other.

"GWA HA HA!!" the Chief laughed. "These monkeys are the only friendly creatures on this island! Of course we get along with them! Ah! Here we are!"

He stopped in front of a small hut.

"We don't have much use for these things," he said, pointing inside the hut where a number of shiny artifacts could be seen, "so if you find something you like, feel free to take it!"

He then pointed ahead of them four huts up to a large, red hut.

"That is my house! Now please, join me for lunch!"

Everyone except Zoro followed the Chief to his hut. Just as he was about to enter the hut, Usopp suddenly yelled, "AH!!" and ran back to Zoro to give him his precautionary instructions.

After refusing to take the flare gun Usopp offered him and angrily stomping into the items hut, Zoro began searching through the debris for a sword. A few minutes passed and he came across a katana that seemed to be in good shape. He sheathed it, tied it to his waist, and then left the hut to join the others.

* * *

One Hour Later

* * *

The Straw Hat crew, minus Zoro, had finished eating and had just stepped out of the Chief's hut.

"GWA HA HA!!" the Chief laughed, patting Luffy on the back. "It's too bad you have to leave so soon! I'd have liked to see more of what you can do with that stretching ability!"

"If we don't leave soon, the Log Pose will reset on this island and we won't be able to go to Elbaf..." said Usopp, glancing towards the Thousand Sunny anxiously. "We should hurry back to the ship..."

"On that note..." said Sanji, "...where's marimo?"

Nami nodded, looking slightly worried. "Yeah, Zoro never showed up...You don't think he got lost...!?"

Franky laughed. "You know, I think we've been too hard on Zoro ever since that time on Fishman Island. He does have a really bad sense of direction, but he's not an idiot. He's probably just waiting for us back at the ship. I mean, that hut he walked into is only FOUR HUTS away from us. That's a ten second walk! Even a child couldn't get lost walking that distance!"

* * *

Eight miles away, deep in the jungle, Zoro was trudging through a thicket of bushes, slashing through the thick plant life with his new sword.

"Damn you Usopp...!" he growled as he hacked a path ahead of him. "What did he mean, 'four huts down'? There were only three huts!"

Upon having exited the hut with his new found sword, Zoro had headed in the direction opposite where Usopp had pointed. After passing by three huts, he had found himself at the edge of the clearing. Figuring the fourth hut was somewhere further ahead, he had then continued on into the jungle. After ten minutes of walking, he realized that he may have made an error in judgement, so he turned around and began running in the direction he thought the village was in. He was really running further into the jungle, however, and after an hour he had travelled a full eight miles away from the village.

* * *

The eight Straw Hats silently stood on the deck of the Thousand Sunny, looking at each other with mixed expressions.

"Hm...Zoro's not here." Usopp stated after some time.

"Yeah, he's definitely not here." Chopper agreed.

"And he's not in the village either." Usopp continued.

"Yeah, he's not in the village either." Chopper agreed again.

"Hm." said Usopp, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hm." Chopper mimicked him, crossing his arms over his chest as well.

There was a short period of silence.

"WHERE THE HELL DID HE GO!?" Usopp suddenly boomed.

"That marimo idiot!!" shouted Sanji. "He got lost AGAIN!?"

"I can't believe this..." murmured Nami, slumping to her knees.

"GAH!! Zoro's disappeared!!" Luffy bellowed.

"But...We were just four huts down from him..." Franky said in disbelief. "...How can a human get lost walking such a short distance..."

"AGAIN!?" hollered Chopper as he began frantically running in circles.

"This is rather bad..." said Robin.

"I'm shocked to the bone!!" exclaimed Brook. "YO HO HO HO!!"

Usopp collapsed against the ship's railing.

"We're going to have to search for him again..." he said, staring out across the ocean in the direction Elbaf was in. "...The Log Pose will set here in a few minutes...We're not going to be able to go to Elbaf..."

"...How can this be happening..." whined Nami, her face in her hands.

"ZORO!!" Luffy yelled angrily at the island. "Get back here right now!!"

"M-Maybe we can still find him in time!" Franky shouted.

"THAT'S RIGHT!!" Usopp thundered, jumping up onto his feet. "Everyone!! Spread out to search for Zoro!!"

He jumped off the side of the ship onto the beach.

"HURRY!!"

"Yeah, let's go!" Sanji agreed, hopping off the ship after him.

"Since he's not in the village, that must mean he went into that jungle." said Robin as she followed the rest of the crew.

They split up and headed into different parts of the surrounding jungle.

After twenty minutes of fruitless searching, they met back up in the center of the village.

"...It's too late..." Nami said gloomily, holding up the Log Pose for everyone to see.

It was now pointing in a new direction.

"NO!!" Usopp cried, falling on his knees. "Elbaf...!!"

"That shitty directionless bastard!!" Sanji barked. "Look what he's done now!!"

"WE CAN'T GO TO ELBAF!?" Luffy hollered in dismay.

As the Straw Hats mourned their lost route and cursed their lost crew mate, the village Chief and some of the villagers gathered around them.

"I heard them say their crew mate went into the jungle..." one of the villagers wearily said to the Chief.

The Chief crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "Hm..."

After waiting a few minutes for the Straw Hats' crying and shouting to die down, he approached them.

"If your crew member is in the jungle," he said, gaining their attention, "he may be in some danger."

"...What do you mean?" asked Nami, raising her head from her hands.

"The further away from this village you get," the Chief continued, "the more danger you're in. We hunt in this jungle, but we never go too far in..."

"Why?" asked Sanji. "What happens if you go too far into the jungle?"

The Chief stared at the ground for a moment.

"...That's where the monsters live." he said, raising his head, a grave look in his eyes.

* * *

"It's almost night already...?" Zoro remarked as he noticed the sun light coming through the leaves of the trees starting to dim. "How am I going to see after the sun goes down..."

The swordsman huffed as he cut off a branch that was sticking out in front of him.

"Where am I anyway? And what's that noise?"

For some time now he had been hearing a screeching sound coming from the bushes to his sides. He sighed, then stopped in his tracks.

"...If you're going to come at me, just come already."

As if in response to his challenge, a large beast suddenly leapt out of the surrounding bushes and attempted to sink its teeth into Zoro's neck. Zoro dodged it by hopping backwards, causing the beast to stumble forward and crash into a tree. It immediately reoriented itself and turned around to face Zoro.

"...A dinosaur, huh?" Zoro said calmly as he took in the sight of the velociraptor that stood before him.

The beast suddenly swung its tail behind it at lightning speed, cutting completely through the thick tree it had just ran into. The tree fell over.

"Oh?" Zoro said, raising an eyebrow. "You're no ordinary dinosaur, are you?"

The velociraptor tilted its head and opened its jaws slightly, then made a loud screeching sound. It then bounded at Zoro once more, teeth bared. With little effort, Zoro moved to the side and lopped the creature's head off.

"...I wonder if I can eat this..." he said after a moment, looking at the corpse.

Before he could act on that thought, three more of the beasts jumped out in front of him and tore into the dead animal, biting off pieces of it. All around him came more loud screeching noises. Within seconds, he was surrounded by at least thirty of them.

"...Heh." he said, smiling as he unsheathed a second sword. "Come."

* * *

"This is a prehistoric island." the Chief explained. "Beasts that haven't existed for millions of years live here...But the dinosaurs here are much stronger than normal ones."

"T-Then Zoro's in trouble!!" Chopper exclaimed. "We have to go find him!"

"It's going to get dark soon." the Chief went on, "It becomes nearly impossible to find your way through the jungle at night. You should wait until tomorrow morning to start your search. The best thing you can do for now is to wait and hope he returns."

"...This is marimo we're talking about..." said Sanji. "...He's a guy who gets lost walking twenty feet...If he's lost in a jungle..."

Usopp sighed gloomily. "...he'll probably spend the rest of his life there unless we find him..."

"But the Chief's right." said Nami. "We won't be able to find him at night. We should wait until morning to go looking for him."

"Yeah." Luffy agreed. "Zoro won't get beaten by some dinosaurs."

The crew agreed to wait until morning to search for Zoro and they all headed back to the ship to sleep.

* * *

It was night. Zoro yawned and lay back against a dead velociraptor body as he ate the final piece of cooked dinosaur meat off his sword. The fire he sat in front of lit up his surroundings, revealing the bodies of his dozens of victims. The pleasant atmosphere created by that sight, in addition to the nice feeling of having eaten to his fill made him feel extremely relaxed.

"...If only I had some whiskey..." he said, sighing. "...Oh well..."

He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when he heard a loud noise and felt the ground shake. He opened an eye to see a huge tyrannosaurus running towards him.

"Geh!" he exclaimed, hopping to his feet and lunging out of the way of the stampeding giant.

The monster was followed by a small group of velociraptors who immediately began jumping on and eating the corpses of their fallen brethren. Other large dinosaurs stepped out of the surrounding darkness as well, apparently drawn in by the light of the fire.

"How the hell am I supposed to sleep like this!?" Zoro snapped, unsheathing his Wadou Ichimonji. "Thirty Six Pound Cannon!"

A flash of light flew from Zoro's sword and sliced the tyrannosaurus in half. The other dinosaurs charged at him.

Within a minute, he had finished them all off.

"I'm not going to be able to get any rest in this place, am I...?" he said, resting his sword on his shoulder. "...I guess I may as well keep walking."

Using a lit stick as a torch, he headed in the direction his gut instinct told him to go in, and was soon well on his way to reaching the heart of the island, forty miles away from the village.

* * *

The previous day, at the end of the island opposite the village, Vice Admiral Smoker and his marine crew had just chased down a pirate ship to the island's beach, where they had battled the pirates and then apprehended them.

"Fuuu..." Smoker sighed as he stuck a second cigar in his mouth and lit it. "...I had heard that pirates in the New World were on another level, but as far as I've seen they're just the same trash we've been dealing with everywhere."

A marine lieutenant stood on the beach next to him, watching as the captured pirates were hauled onto Smoker's warship. "S-Sir, if I may, those were most likely the strongest pirates we've ever come across..." the man said. "...If capturing them was easy, it was only because of your amazing strength..."

Smoker ignored the lieutenant's comment and glanced around the area. He noticed a few monkeys nearby who were playing with each other, rolling around in the sand and tossing pebbles in the air.

"...Do you know what island this is?" he asked the lieutenant.

"According to the map we received from headquarters," the man replied, "it's an uninhabited, prehistoric island."

Smoker sighed. "Then there's no point in staying here too long...Is Tashigi still on the line with headquarters? It's been nearly thirty minutes."

"Ah, yes sir. Captain Tashigi is providing Marine Headquarters with information on the pirate crew we just captured so the appropriate cells can be prepared for them in Impel Down...She's also trying to get news on the whereabouts of the Straw Hat crew..."

At that moment, a loud crashing sound was heard from the ship. Smoker turned to see Tashigi on its deck, scrambling to her feet and bowing apologetically to the marine who she had just ran into along with the cart full of cannon balls he had been hauling. After taking a few seconds to help the marine flip the cart back on its wheels, she proceeded down the ship's ramp towards Smoker.

"Smoker-san!!" she shouted as she reached him. "H-Headquarters, they...!!"

"Idiot, lower your voice." said Smoker. "What happened? Did you get word on Straw Hat?"

"N-No, not yet. Tashigi replied. "He hasn't caused any trouble lately, so headquarters still isn't sure where he is. The last news we got of him was from a month ago when he defeated Admiral Ao Kiji...But about that...! Headquarters! They're considering you for the position of Ao Kiji's replacement! For the rank of Admiral!"

"What!?" exclaimed the lieutenant.

"They're ordering you to return to Marineford...!" Tashigi finished nervously.

Smoker closed his eyes and breathed out a thick cloud of smoke.

"...Ignore them." he said after a moment.

"Eh!?" shouted the lieutenant. "V-Vice Admiral!! Being considered for the rank of Admiral is a huge honor! You're refusing it!?"

"I didn't enter the Grand Line to increase my rank." Smoker said plainly. "I only became a Vice Admiral so I'd have the freedom to cross the Red Line. Until I've crushed Straw Hat and asserted my justice, nothing else matters."

Tashigi smiled slightly in relief.

"Anyway, we're leaving this island." Smoker announced as he began walking towards the ship, where the last of the captured pirates was being dragged up the ramp. Tashigi and the lieutenant followed him.

They had nearly reached the ship when they heard a shout, followed by gun fire. One of the captured pirates had broken free of the marine who had been holding him and was running down the beach, away from the ship.

"He's getting away!!" a marine shouted.

"I'll stop him!" Tashigi declared, dashing off after the pirate.

The pirate ran past a monkey, which jumped in surprise and took off in the direction of the jungle.

"Stop right there, pirate!!" Tashigi ordered, now chasing the monkey.

"Idiot! What are you doing!?" hollered Smoker. "Put on your glasses!"

Not hearing Smoker's words, Tashigi raced into the jungle after the monkey.

"Shit!" Smoker cursed, running after the fleeing pirate himself. "Lieutenant! Send ten men in after Tashigi!"

"Ten...!?" the lieutenant questioned. "Is that really necessary!?"

"Just do it!!"

* * *

"There's no place left to run!" Tashigi declared as she stood with her sword drawn before the monkey, which, after a five minute chase she had finally managed to corner and back up against a tree. "Give up and submit to your arrest!"

"Oooooohk!! Oooohk!!" the monkey howled in protest, pounding its fists against the ground.

"...Wha...?"

Tashigi took her glasses out of her pocket and put them on.

"...A...A monkey...?" she said, confused. "But...the pirate..."

After a few seconds of thought, she sheathed her sword, then bowed to the monkey and said, "I'm sorry for the trouble!"

The monkey let out an "Ooohk!" and ran away.

Tashigi looked around her. She was completely surrounded by jungle.

"I have to get back...!" she said hastily, trying to remember which direction she had come from. After a minute of thought, she came up with an idea. She climbed up a nearby tree, then took a look around the area. Some ways off in the distance, over the tops of a number of trees, she could see the ocean and Smoker's warship. She sighed in relief.

"Ahh...Good...It's not too far away."

After climbing back down, she began running in the direction in which she had seen the ocean. After a minute, without thinking about it, or perhaps because she felt like she was on a straight enough path that it wouldn't matter, she took her glasses off and put them back in her pocket.

* * *

One Hour Later

* * *

"Vice Admiral!" the lieutenant called to Smoker, who was sitting in a chair on the deck of the ship. "The ten marines you ordered me to send out after Captain Tashigi...They've just returned...!"

Smoker turned to face the lieutenant as he ran up the ramp. "...And?"

The lieutenant stopped in front of him and glanced away nervously.

"They...They were unable to find her!" he reported.

Smoker dropped his face into his hand.

"S-Sir," the lieutenant said hesitantly, "could it be that she got lost...?"

Smoker said nothing, his expression hidden. A silence ensued for nearly a minute before the Vice Admiral finally raised his head and stood up from his chair.

"...Call everyone out on deck." he ordered. "We're going to have to do a full search of this island."

The lieutenant stepped back in surprise.

"But sir!!" he exclaimed. "This circular island is over eighty miles in diameter...!! Even with one hundred marines, searching the whole thing would take days!! Wouldn't it be faster to just wait for the Captain to find her way back!?"

"...No." Smoker said, grimacing. "...If we wait for her, we'd be lucky if she returned in a month."

"A month!?"

* * *

"Hah...Hah..." Tashigi panted as she finally stopped to take a break from running. "...The sun's starting to set...I've been running for this long...I must be close to the ocean by now...!"

She climbed up a tree again to get an idea of her whereabouts, expecting to see the ocean a short distance away. What she saw, however, was quite the opposite.

"Wha-!?" she exclaimed as she looked out over the endless span of jungle surrounding her on every side. "The ocean...It's nowhere in sight...! I was so close to it...!! What happened...!?"

Unbeknownst to Tashigi, after having removed her glasses, it had taken her no more than a minute to circle around and head in the exact opposite direction of the beach. Not considering the time, she ran for a full hour, and when she finally stopped she had traveled six miles.

Not sure how to proceed now, she slowly climbed down the tree, then sat down, her back against the trunk. She stared at the ground, trying to decide what she should do. She shivered slightly. It was starting to get cold out, and she didn't have her coat or gloves with her. It would be night soon and she was sure it would get even colder. And since she didn't have any tools with her that she could use to make a fire, both keeping warm, and seeing at night would be a problem.

"...I must be causing a lot of problems for Smoker-san." she said after a while, standing up. "...I have to try to get back."

She chose a random direction and began walking in it, hoping that it would lead her back to the ship.

* * *

Five Hours Later

* * *

The sun had now completely disappeared from the sky. Tashigi's path was lit only by the small bit of moonlight that penetrated through the leaves of the trees. She was cold and somewhat tired, but she ignored it. She had the distinct feeling that if she fell asleep here, she'd never wake up. For some time now, she had been hearing a screeching sound all around her, and once or twice she could have sworn she had seen a pair of shiny, yellow eyes glaring at her from the darkness.

All of a sudden, the trees in front of her bent to the side and a large, four-legged creature with spikes on its back and the tip of its tail stepped out. She jumped back in surprise and quickly put her glasses on so she could get a better look at it.

"This is...a dinosaur!?" she exclaimed. "Then this is a prehistoric island...!! Come to think of it, the lieutenant did say something about that..."

The stegosaurus eyed her for a moment, then it let out a roar and charged at her. She quickly drew her sword and jolted to its side just before getting rammed. She swung her sword against the side of its body, but her blade rebounded.

"Wha-!?" she shouted, backing away from it. "Its body is as hard as rock...!"

The beast spun around, attempting to hit her with its spiked tail as it did so. She ducked and the tail went over her, smashing into a group of trees to her side and knocking them over.

"T-This isn't a normal dinosaur...!"

It came charging at her again. She hesitated a split second, then frowned determinedly and ran forward to meet it head on. Putting all her strength into her sword arm, she sliced its head in half and then jumped over it as it skidded to the ground, lifeless.

Before she had time to think, three velociraptors had hopped out in front of her. Two of them immediately began biting into the dead stegosaurus, while the other stood still, staring at her. She tightened her grip on her sword, and glared back at it. The raptor tilted its head slightly as it continued to eye her, then it suddenly lunged at her. She swerved to its side and attempted to decapitate it, but like with the last monster, her sword rebounded.

"This one's skin is as hard as rock too...!"

It rapidly spun around and lunged at her a second time. Again gathering all her strength into her sword arm, Tashigi slashed through the dinosaur's neck. It stammered forward, then collapsed.

The other two velociraptors stopped eating the stegosaurus and stared at her. She faced them, preparing herself. After a few tense seconds, they both sprung toward her, mouths open. Using all her strength and swinging her blade with the speed that earned her the rank of Captain, she cut through them both, causing them to plunge face first into the dirt as blood spurted from their chests.

Tashigi lowered her sword and leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath.

"...I can't keep swinging that hard..." she said, rubbing her arm.

She heard a loud screeching noise from behind her. She turned to see one of the velociraptors she had just cut down, on the verge of death, lifting its head up and screeching.

"...What...?" she said, confused. "...What's it doing...?"

After a minute, it stopped screeching and its body became still. Tashigi stayed leaning against the tree, waiting for her energy to return to her. Being a female, she had much less arm strength, and thus had much more difficulty cutting through rock than most male swordsmen. To overcome that barrier, she had honed her swinging speed to the point where she could easily defeat ten assailants in the course of a few seconds. But that would only work when fighting humans and creatures with soft flesh. Against these things...

She started to hear screeching noises coming from all around her.

"Wha-!?" she shouted, raising her sword again.

The screeching got louder and louder and then she saw them. Five scaly velociraptor heads were making their way towards her from the darkness. That five soon became ten which soon became twenty. She stepped away from the tree and stared around her at the steadily increasing number of beasts. Within a few seconds, over thirty of them had surrounded her.

She glanced at the dead one that had been screeching a few moments ago.

"It must have called them here...!"

They slowly began to close in around her, screeching louder and louder.

"There's no way I can fight this many!" she exclaimed, looking for an escape route.

She noticed a small opening between two of them and she immediately dashed for it. As soon as she moved, they all pounced at her. The opening she had aimed for was instantly filled in by two of them, which she prepared to cut through using the last of her right arm's strength. Right before she could get within cutting distance of them, the tail of one came crashing into her side.

"Egh...!!" she coughed as she felt a rib crack.

Stomaching the pain, she proceeded forward and sliced through the two monsters that stood in her way. She felt her arm go numb as she raced past them. She ran with all her might, hoping for something to appear that would save her. They would catch up with her in a matter of seconds. She heard the sound of running water a short distance away from her and she headed for it.

Seconds later she reached a large, deep river. She jumped into it without hesitation and was instantly carried off by its current, away from the pursuing predators.

After riding the current for a few minutes, she saw a waterfall up ahead and quickly swam to the river's edge, where she climbed back on land. She held herself up on her hands and knees as she coughed, then slowly got to her feet. She heard a loud breathing sound. A few feet in front of her, its head lowered to the ground so it could sniff her, stood a tyrannosaurus.

* * *

Later That Night

* * *

"Ahhhh!!" a marine yelled as he fired his gun at a horned dinosaur that was running towards him. "Bullets aren't working!!"

The marine was saved in the nick of time by Smoker, who lifted the dinosaur off its feet with a cloud of smoke and then slammed it against the ground, breaking its neck. All around, the marines were futilely shooting at the dinosaurs they had just run into. Smoker was the only one among them who remained unfazed.

"WHITE OUT!!" he shouted as he blew huge amounts of white smoke from his body into the surrounding area. The smoke quickly forced its way inside the dinosaurs through their mouths and noses, then expanded, causing their stomachs and lungs to burst. The dinosaurs all fell over, blood gushing out of their mouths.

"Vice Admiral!!" the lieutenant exclaimed as he crawled out from under the body of a stegosaurus that had been about to eat him. "To be in this place alone...Captain Tashigi is in a lot of danger!!"

Smoker lit a cigar he had just bit down on as a dark expression took over his face.

"...You aren't going to be any help here!" he announced to the surrounding marines. "Go back to the ship! I'm going to have to handle this alone! Expect me to return within ten days!"

* * *

Two Days Later, Morning

* * *

Luffy, Sanji, Franky, Usopp, Chopper, Brook, Robin, and Nami stood together at the perimeter of the village, near the outskirts of the jungle, talking with the village Chief.

"So as I've said," the Chief was saying, "the monsters in this jungle are exceptionally powerful! Their bodies are as hard as rock and they are many times stronger than normal dinosaurs!"

He looked at Luffy.

"If you're going to go deep into this jungle, I must recommend only taking the members of your crew who can hit with exceptional power! Anyone who is unable to break through stone will simply be torn to shreds!"

"T-T-Torn to shreds...?" Usopp asked, shaking.

Luffy frowned. "Hmm...Then, raise your hand if you can break through stone!"

Luffy, Sanji, Franky and Brook raised their hands.

"Only us four, huh?" said Franky.

"Then, we'll be the ones looking for Zoro." Luffy announced.

Chopper sighed, disappointed that he couldn't be of help. "I can break rock if I use a Rumble Ball, but that only lasts for three minutes..."

"T-Then, good luck!" Usopp exclaimed, glad he wasn't going to have to fight rock monsters.

"Searching that enormous jungle with only four people though..." said Nami, "...finding Zoro is going to take a long time, isn't it?"

"It seems that way." said Sanji, sighing. "Anyway, we should all meet back here in five days."

A villager ran up to the Chief and handed him a few Log Poses. The Chief held four of them out for the crew to take.

"We had these stored in our items hut." he explained. "You should be able to use them to find your way back."

Luffy, Sanji, Franky and Brook each took one. Luffy put his in his pocket and then turned towards the jungle.

"...Let's go!"

* * *

Zoro yawned as he sheathed his Shuusui and stared ahead of him at the two halves of the triceratops he had just cut in two. This would be about his two hundredth kill that day.

"Just how many more of these things are there?" he complained. "...And...haven't I seen this tree before...?"

In the day since he had entered the jungle, Zoro had traveled forty miles and was now walking in circles around the center of the island. He was about to start walking again when he heard what sounded like the clanking of a sword somewhere in the distance. He listened closer and he thought he heard a faint shout.

"Is there another person here?"

He headed in the direction he heard the shout and after a minute of walking he yelled, "Is some one there!?"

A female voice immediately shouted in response. "H-Hello...!?"

The voice came from close by. Zoro proceeded towards it, hoping that whoever it was could show him the way out. A few seconds later, he reached the origin of the voice.

"WHA...!!" he immediately exclaimed, cringing as he jumped backwards. "Y-YOU!!"

* * *

Tashigi leaned against a tree, lightly grasping her sword with her sword arm as it hung loosely at her side. She could no longer lift it. She was clutching her ribs where they had been injured, and was squinting in an attempt to keep the blood trinkling down her forehead from getting into her eyes. It had been over two days since she had slept or eaten. Since her first encounter with the dinosaurs, she had spent almost every second running and hiding, eventually coming all the way to the center of the island, and had received multiple injuries along the way. The large group of velociraptors that she had first ran into had continued to track her the whole way, and on numerous occasions she had nearly been caught by them.

A few minutes prior, her legs had gotten too stiff for her to continue running and she had to stop. She barely had time to catch her breath before three velociraptors had appeared before her. After screeching to call their pack, they attacked her. Drawing the last bit of strength left in her body, she somehow managed to defeat them, but she could only stand helpless afterwards, unable to move as she waited for the rest of the pack to show up and finish her off. It was then that she heard some one shouting. Without even thinking about it, she immediately shouted back and a few seconds later a man had walked out in front of her.

"WHA...!! Y-YOU!!" she heard him yell.

"Ro...Roronoa...!" she gasped as she saw his face.

Before she could think any further, the last of her strength left her and she passed out, falling to the ground.

* * *

Zoro stared at Tashigi's collapsed body.

"W-What the hell is going on!?" he exclaimed. "Why is she here!?"

At that moment, he heard screeching sounds all around him. Within a few seconds, a huge number of velociraptors had leapt out, surrounding him and the unconscious Tashigi.

"Can't you bastards give me a second to think!?" he flared, unsheathing all three of his swords.

The velociraptors all pounced at him at once. Zoro quickly twisted his body to one side, then spun in a circle, creating a disk of light around him. The disk quickly expanded in every direction, slicing through his attackers. An instant later, every one of them lay on the ground in pieces.

He resheathed his swords, scoffing, then stared down at Tashigi again.

"...If she's here, that means that marine, Smoker, is probably on this island too..." he muttered. "...Is this some kind of trap?"

He noticed the fresh blood on Tashigi's head and some that was soaking through the sleeve of her shirt. Hesitantly, he walked over to her, then kneeled down.

"H-Hey." he said, tapping her shoulder. When she didn't respond, he hesitated again for a moment, then flipped her over onto her back. Seeing her face made his stomach clench up.

"...Damn it...I can't leave her like this, can I?"

* * *

It was night now. Zoro angrily tramped through the jungle, carrying Tashigi on his back.

"...Shit...!!" he cursed. "Why did it turn out like this!? And where the hell am I going anyway!?"


End file.
